Managed Advice Splash
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Let Managed Advice Work For You
Highly customized investing strategies, delivered with a human touch.
How it works
Tell us about yourself
Sign in to your account to start taking advantage of all the benefits of Managed Advice. You’ll fill out a profile so we can start to build a personalized retirement strategy that will meet your individual needs.
Let Managed Advice work for you
We create a personalized strategy for you — automatically investing your account and guiding you towards your goals — so you can worry less about tomorrow. And if you ever want to change anything, one-on-one advice is always a phone call away.
Competitive Cost
Managed Advice has a monthly fee based on your account balance — [$2.08/$2.92/$3.75] for every $10,000 in your account, with absolutely no impact on your paycheck. And since you're getting professional money management through your employer, this fee is much less than what you would pay if you sought advice on your own.*
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
- Why do I have trouble signing in from work?
You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
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- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
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- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
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- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
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- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
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- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
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- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
Agreement
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Agreement
Managed Advice AGREEMENT
Please read the following agreement carefully before using or enrolling in the service described below. If you affirmatively subscribe to the Managed Advice service by acknowledging these terms and conditions and checking the box below, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date of such acknowledgment and you are thereby enrolled in the Service. Alternatively, you may have already been automatically enrolled in the service based on instructions from your retirement plan sponsor. If you have been automatically enrolled in the Managed Advice service, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date you are automatically enrolled. You will signal your agreement to be bound by this Agreement by your continued participation in the Managed Advice service after the earlier of (i) any applicable deadline to opt out of participation in the Service, or (ii) the first date that transactions are initiated for your account under the Managed Advice service.
Please read the following agreement carefully before using or enrolling in the service described below. If you affirmatively subscribe to the Managed Advice service by acknowledging these terms and conditions and checking the box below, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date of such acknowledgment and you are thereby enrolled in the Service. Alternatively, you may have already been automatically enrolled in the service based on instructions from your retirement plan sponsor. If you have been automatically enrolled in the Managed Advice service, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date you are automatically enrolled. You will signal your agreement to be bound by this Agreement by your continued participation in the Managed Advice service after the earlier of (i) any applicable deadline to opt out of participation in the Service, or (ii) the first date that transactions are initiated for your account under the Managed Advice service.
Please read the following agreement carefully before using or enrolling in the service described below. If you affirmatively subscribe to the Managed Advice service by acknowledging these terms and conditions and checking the box below, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date of such acknowledgment and you are thereby enrolled in the Service. Alternatively, you may have already been automatically enrolled in the service based on instructions from your retirement plan sponsor. If you have been automatically enrolled in the Managed Advice service, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date you are automatically enrolled. You will signal your agreement to be bound by this Agreement by your continued participation in the Managed Advice service after the earlier of (i) any applicable deadline to opt out of participation in the Service, or (ii) the first date that transactions are initiated for your account under the Managed Advice service.
Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of Agreement
Clicking Subscribe means you have read and agree to abide by all terms of the agreement that apply to you and you acknowledge you have received and reviewed ABC Company Retirement Advisors' Form ADV. Please note that upon enrollment in the Managed Advice service, any currently initiated transfers or transactions will be cancelled, unless the market has closed for the day.
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
- Why do I have trouble signing in from work?
You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
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- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
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- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
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- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Access
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Print versionFinancial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
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- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
New Summary
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Based on the information you provided, here is your proposed investment mix for your current balance and future contributions.
| Investments | Current Mix | New Mix |
| BONDS | 30% | 70% |
| Short Bonds / Stable / MMkt | 9% | 21% |
|
5%
|
11%
|
|
|
4%
|
10%
|
|
| Intermediate / Long-Term Bonds | 18% | 42% |
|
12%
|
25%
|
|
|
6%
|
17%
|
|
| Aggressive Bonds | 3% | 7% |
|
3%
|
7%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| STOCKS | 70% | 30% |
| Large-Cap Stocks | 53% | 21% |
|
20%
|
7%
|
|
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
|
8%
|
4%
|
|
|
17%
|
7%
|
|
| Small / Mid-Cap Stocks | 6% | 4% |
|
2%
|
2%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
| International Stocks | 11% | 5% |
|
9%
|
4%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| OTHER | 0% | 0% |
| Multi-Asset / Other | 0% | 0% |
|
0%
|
0%
|
Balances in a Self-Directed Brokerage Account are not available for investment in the Managed Account service. Should you choose to maintain these assets in SDBA, you will be restricted from making any additional transfers into SDBA. The assets in your SDBA account will remain, and will not be included in the investment strategy provided through this service. If you choose to liquidate your SDBA account, please contact a representative.
If you wish to impose restrictions on the investment of your account please contact a representative. Please note, if you have imposed restrictions the investment mix above my not precislely match how you will be allocated.
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
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Signing In
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If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
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Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
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Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
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Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
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To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
- X back to top
- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
New Summary Multiple
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Based on the information you provided, here is your proposed investment mix for your current balance and future contributions.
| Investments | Current Mix | New Mix |
| BONDS | 30% | 70% |
| Short Bonds / Stable / MMkt | 9% | 21% |
|
5%
|
11%
|
|
|
4%
|
10%
|
|
| Intermediate / Long-Term Bonds | 18% | 42% |
|
12%
|
25%
|
|
|
6%
|
17%
|
|
| Aggressive Bonds | 3% | 7% |
|
3%
|
7%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| STOCKS | 70% | 30% |
| Large-Cap Stocks | 53% | 21% |
|
20%
|
7%
|
|
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
|
8%
|
4%
|
|
|
17%
|
7%
|
|
| Small / Mid-Cap Stocks | 6% | 4% |
|
2%
|
2%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
| International Stocks | 11% | 5% |
|
9%
|
4%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| OTHER | 0% | 0% |
| Multi-Asset / Other | 0% | 0% |
|
0%
|
0%
|
Balances in a Self-Directed Brokerage Account are not available for investment in the Managed Account service. Should you choose to maintain these assets in SDBA, you will be restricted from making any additional transfers into SDBA. The assets in your SDBA account will remain, and will not be included in the investment strategy provided through this service. If you choose to liquidate your SDBA account, please contact a representative.
If you wish to impose restrictions on the investment of your account please contact a representative. Please note, if you have imposed restrictions the investment mix above my not precislely match how you will be allocated.
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
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General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
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Signing In
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If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
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Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
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Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
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- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
New Agreement
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Are you ready for a secure retirement?
These services from Managed Advice will keep you On Target to and through retirement!
- Automatic portfolio rebalancing.
- Personalized savings rate advice.
- Retirement income planning.
- One-on-one retirement counseling.
Managed Advice AGREEMENT
Please read the following agreement carefully before using or enrolling in the service described below. If you affirmatively subscribe to the Managed Advice service by acknowledging these terms and conditions and checking the box below, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date of such acknowledgment and you are thereby enrolled in the Service. Alternatively, you may have already been automatically enrolled in the service based on instructions from your retirement plan sponsor. If you have been automatically enrolled in the Managed Advice service, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date you are automatically enrolled. You will signal your agreement to be bound by this Agreement by your continued participation in the Managed Advice service after the earlier of (i) any applicable deadline to opt out of participation in the Service, or (ii) the first date that transactions are initiated for your account under the Managed Advice service.
Please read the following agreement carefully before using or enrolling in the service described below. If you affirmatively subscribe to the Managed Advice service by acknowledging these terms and conditions and checking the box below, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date of such acknowledgment and you are thereby enrolled in the Service. Alternatively, you may have already been automatically enrolled in the service based on instructions from your retirement plan sponsor. If you have been automatically enrolled in the Managed Advice service, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date you are automatically enrolled. You will signal your agreement to be bound by this Agreement by your continued participation in the Managed Advice service after the earlier of (i) any applicable deadline to opt out of participation in the Service, or (ii) the first date that transactions are initiated for your account under the Managed Advice service.
Please read the following agreement carefully before using or enrolling in the service described below. If you affirmatively subscribe to the Managed Advice service by acknowledging these terms and conditions and checking the box below, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date of such acknowledgment and you are thereby enrolled in the Service. Alternatively, you may have already been automatically enrolled in the service based on instructions from your retirement plan sponsor. If you have been automatically enrolled in the Managed Advice service, this Agreement becomes effective upon the date you are automatically enrolled. You will signal your agreement to be bound by this Agreement by your continued participation in the Managed Advice service after the earlier of (i) any applicable deadline to opt out of participation in the Service, or (ii) the first date that transactions are initiated for your account under the Managed Advice service.
Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of Agreement
Clicking Subscribe means you have read and agree to abide by all terms of the agreement that apply to you and you acknowledge you have received and reviewed ABC Company Retirement Advisors' Form ADV. Please note that upon enrollment in the Managed Advice service, any currently initiated transfers or transactions will be cancelled, unless the market has closed for the day.
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
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You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
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Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
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You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Your Managed Advice® Retirement Plan
How are you doing?
How are you invested?
Managed Advice® is monitoring and
updating your investment mix.
updating your investment mix.
| Bonds | 60% |
| Stocks | 30% |
| Other | 10% |
There are fees associated with receiving advice through the Managed Account service offered by ABC Organization Retirement Advisors. You will have an opportunity to learn more about the service or make other investment choices on the following page. For more information, please see:
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Print versionFinancial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
- Why do I have trouble signing in from work?
You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
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This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
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Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
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You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
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Signing In
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If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
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Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
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My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
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To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
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If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
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When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
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If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
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Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
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Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
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Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
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While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
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This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Your Managed Advice® Retirement Plan
How are you doing?
Estimated Retirement Income
Your Retirement Forecast
Your current strategy is likely to produce retirement income that meets 65% - 79% of your goal.
How are you invested?
Managed Advice® is monitoring and
updating your investment mix.
updating your investment mix.
| Bonds | 60% |
| Stocks | 30% |
| Other | 10% |
How can you do better?
To improve Your Retirement Outlook®, we may recommend a few adjustments to your savings strategy. Review these suggested changes, if any, and click Use This Plan to update your strategy. Or, you can modify these suggestions by clicking Adjust This Plan.
- Increase your Contributions by 8%.
- Increase your Retirement Age to 69 and retire in 2035
- We will update your Investment Mix to 70% stock30% bonds
Possible Retirement Income
Your Retirement Forecast
Your current strategy is likely to produce retirement income that meets 65% - 79% of your goal.
Other things to consider
There are fees associated with receiving advice through the Managed Account service offered by ABC Organization Retirement Advisors. You will have an opportunity to learn more about the service or make other investment choices on the following page. For more information, please see:
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Print versionFinancial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
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Access
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My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
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Signing In
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If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
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Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
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Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
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Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
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Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
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Service
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My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
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My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
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Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
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Security
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Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
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To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
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While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
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Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
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Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
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- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
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- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
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- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
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- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
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- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
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- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
Sub How You Can Do Better
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Managed Account
How you can do better
The sections below show you three ways to improve Your Retirement Outlook®. Use the sliding scales to see what happens when you make changes in any or all of these sections. If you like what you see when you adjust these settings, click Use This Plan to have the new settings take effect.
Based on the information we know about and your goals we will automatically invest your current balance and future contributions on a quarterly basis.
| Bonds | 60% |
| Stocks | 40% |
| Other | 0% |
| Bonds | 60% |
| Stocks | 40% |
| Other | 0% |
This is how your decisions will affect your retirement income
Possible Retirement Income
Possible Retirement Forecast
About Probability Illustration
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Print versionFinancial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
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General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
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Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
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Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
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Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
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Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
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My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
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My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
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To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
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If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
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If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
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Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
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Security
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Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
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To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
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Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
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Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
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While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
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Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
- X back to top
- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
Sub How You Are Invested
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Managed Advice
How you are invested
Managed Advice® is monitoring and updating your investment mix.
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Investment Mix for Your Current Balance and Future Contributions
| Investments | Current Mix | New Mix |
| BONDS | 30% | 70% |
| Short Bonds / Stable / MMkt | 9% | 21% |
|
5%
|
11%
|
|
|
4%
|
10%
|
|
| Intermediate / Long-Term Bonds | 18% | 42% |
|
12%
|
25%
|
|
|
6%
|
17%
|
|
| Aggressive Bonds | 3% | 7% |
|
3%
|
7%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| STOCKS | 70% | 30% |
| Large-Cap Stocks | 53% | 21% |
|
20%
|
7%
|
|
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
|
8%
|
4%
|
|
|
17%
|
7%
|
|
| Small / Mid-Cap Stocks | 6% | 4% |
|
2%
|
2%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
| International Stocks | 11% | 5% |
|
9%
|
4%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| OTHER | 0% | 0% |
| Multi-Asset / Other | 0% | 0% |
|
0%
|
0%
|
Balances in a Self-Directed Brokerage Account are not available for investment in the Managed Advice service. Should you choose to maintain these assets in SDBA, you will be restricted from making any additional transfers into SDBA. The assets in your SDBA account will remain, and will not be included in the investment strategy provided through this service. If you choose to liquidate your SDBA account, please contact a representative.
If you wish to impose restrictions on the investment of your account please contact a representative. Please note, if you have imposed restrictions the investment mix above my not precislely match how you will be allocated.
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Access
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My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
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Signing In
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Service
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Security
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All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
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Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
Sub Income Planning
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Managed Advice®
Income Planning
With Managed Account, not only do our retirement advisors help you create a sound savings strategy while you're still working, but they also help you create a plan for turning your savings into income you can use to enjoy life in retirement.
Savings growth during your working years.Ideally, you were able to start saving early in life. The earlier you start, the more time your money has to grow and benefit from the power of compounding interest. This chart illustrates how your invested savings grows with compounded interest compared to regular contributions alone.
Re-creating your salary in retirement can be a bit of a puzzle. But our retirement advisors can help you see how all of the pieces can fit together.
It took decades to build your nest egg; now how do you wisely continue to save for your years of retirement? Our retirement advisors can show you how to smartly withdraw from your various savings accounts in order to help your money last as long as possible.
About Probability Illustration
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Print versionTo understand your annual retirement income goal you need to understand your budget in retirement. We have created a retirement budget below which you can customize.
Budget Items (click to edit)
| Name | Percentage | Amount |
| Housing | 29.6% | $20,000.00 |
| Necessities | 7.4% | $5,000.00 |
| Utilities | 7.4% | $3,000.00 |
| Health / Insurance | 7.4% | $15,600.00 |
| Leisure / Entertainment | 7.4% | $6,000.00 |
| Transportation | 7.4% | $6,000.00 |
| Family Care | 7.4% | $6,000.00 |
| Debt | 7.4% | $2,400.00 |
| Miscellaneous | 7.4% | $0.00 |
| Total Retirement Budget | $0.00 | |
| Annual Income Goal | $39,600.01 | |
Do you know if your income goal is right for you?
Maximizing Social Security
Social Security can play an important role for many in retirement. There are different strategies for how and when to elect your benefits.
Our retirement advisors can help you maximize your Social Security benefit and discuss the role it can play in your retirement income strategy.
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
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You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
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Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
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Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
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Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
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Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
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When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
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Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
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To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
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Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
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Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
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Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
- X back to top
- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
Sub Retirement Profile
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Managed Advice®
Retirement Profile
These assets and accounts will be considered when determining your target and gap.
| Name | Balance | |
|---|---|---|
| Transamerica 401 (k) Retirement Account | $2,000.00 | Access this plan |
| Emergency Savings | $15,000.00 | Access this plan Access this plan |
| Empower Retirement Plan | $4,000.00 | Access this plan Access this plan |
| Total Balance: | $21,000.00 |
Add any other expected income sources during retirement. We have already added Social Security and your pension.
| Name | Frequency | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Social Security Estimate | Annual | $2,000.00 | Access this plan |
| Transamerica Companies Pension Plan | Monthly | $15,000.00 | Access this plan |
| IBM Pension Plan | Monthly | $4,000.00 | Access this plan Access this plan |
Add any expected withdrawals during retirement.
| Name | Frequency | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daughters Wedding | One-Time | $12,000.00 | Access this plan Access this plan |
| Daughters College | Annual | $15,000.00 | Access this plan Access this plan |
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
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General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
- Why do I have trouble signing in from work?
You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Can I print the information from My TRSRetire that appears on my monitor?
Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
- How soon can I expect a response from using Contact Us?
Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
Sub Summary
Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Managed Account
SUMMARY
Please review your new elections and click submit below.
Savings Rate
| Pre tax | Current | New |
|
Rate
Auto-increase 2% annually
|
4% | 6% |
| Catch-up | 0% | 2% |
| Post tax | Current | New |
| Rate | 2% | 2% |
| Catch-up | 1% | 1% |
|
Total Rate
8%
Total Auto-increase
2%
Total Catch-up
3% |
||
Retirement Goals
| Type | Current | New |
|---|---|---|
| Desired Retirement Age | Age 65 in 2031 | Age 68 in 2035 |
| Annual Income Goal | 100% | 85% |
Investment Mix for Your Current Balance and Future Contribution
| Investments | Current Mix | New Mix |
| BONDS | 30% | 70% |
| Short Bonds / Stable / MMkt | 9% | 21% |
|
5%
|
11%
|
|
|
4%
|
10%
|
|
| Intermediate / Long-Term Bonds | 18% | 42% |
|
12%
|
25%
|
|
|
6%
|
17%
|
|
| Aggressive Bonds | 3% | 7% |
|
3%
|
7%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| STOCKS | 70% | 30% |
| Large-Cap Stocks | 53% | 21% |
|
20%
|
7%
|
|
|
8%
|
3%
|
|
|
8%
|
4%
|
|
|
17%
|
7%
|
|
| Small / Mid-Cap Stocks | 6% | 4% |
|
2%
|
2%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
|
| International Stocks | 11% | 5% |
|
9%
|
4%
|
|
|
2%
|
1%
|
| Current Mix | New Mix | |
| OTHER | 0% | 0% |
| Multi-Asset / Other | 0% | 0% |
|
0%
|
0%
|
| Maintain your company stock assets? | Yes |
| Maintain your walled off fund assets? | Yes |
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
If you have lost or forgotten your password, or you need your password reset, you must call for assistance: 877-348-3365
General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
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Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
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Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
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Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
- Why does the page cut off when I print?
Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
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If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
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Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
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Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
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Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
- R back to top
- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
- X back to top
- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
- # back to top
- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
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This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
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- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
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- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
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- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
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- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
Please note: Certain requests cannot be made through e-mail. Representatives are available: Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET
If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
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General or Technical Information & Questions
For questions about our web site or to report a technical problem, please use our email form below.
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Access
- Are there any special browser requirements to use My TRSRetire?
My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
Additionally, this website works best with a minimum version of Adobe Flash Player 9 and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
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- If I am going to dial into the Internet, how do I disable call waiting?
Insert *70 in front of the telephone number in the phone number dialogue box on your computer prior to dialing OR press *70 on your telephone and hang up the phone. Call waiting will be disabled for the next outgoing call made on the phone line. Call waiting will not be disabled for any further calls unless *70, is dialed again.
- Why do I have trouble signing in from work?
You may be behind a corporate firewall at work. The firewall serves to enforce security policy on your network. Often, administrators restrict encrypted information, like your Transamerica account information, from entering networks. Verify your restrictions by contacting your network administrator.
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
- Why does My TRSRetire offer the option to use Username or Social Security Number for Sign In?
Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
- How can I change my Username?
Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
- What if I forgot my Username?
Use your Social Security Number if you do not remember your Username.
- What if I forgot my password?
Select the 'Lost your ID or password?' link on the Sign In screen. You will be required to enter your social security or username to have your password hint emailed to you. If you still do not remember your password, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative.
- How do I change my password?
Select the 'Change Password' option in the Manage Profile section.
- Why doesn't my password work when I try to Sign In?
Make sure that you are entering your correct Username or Social Security Number and Password. If you are still unable to Sign In, please call 800-755-5801 to speak with a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative or send us an email using Contact Us in Help.
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
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Service
- What services does My TRSRetire provide?
My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
- When is My TRSRetire available?
My TRSRetire is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Yes, you can print any screen using the supported Internet browsers. In Internet Explorer or Netscape, select FILE in your browser menu and then select PRINT. Make sure that you have the right printer selected before sending the file to the printer. If there is a print button available on the page, use the print button.
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Some pages may be too wide to print with your paper orientation set to PORTRAIT.
To change your paper orientation in Internet Explorer, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PAGE SETUP. In the lower left corner select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. When you are ready to print, select FILE on your browser menu then select PRINT. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
To change your paper orientation in Netscape, wait until you are ready to print. When ready, select FILE on your browser menu and then select PRINT. After choosing your printer from the dropdown box, select PROPERTIES. Make sure that the PAPER tab is selected at the Select LANDSCAPE and then select OK. Select OK to print. This setting should remain in effect until you change it.
- When I select the Fund Hyperlinks, why do I get a blank screen?
If you double-click on the Fund Hyperlinks, the linked screen might be behind the current screen. All hyperlinks should be selected with a single mouse click.
- When I request changes to my account how can I ensure my request has been processed?
When you are requesting financial changes to your account, there will be a confirmation number displayed when the transaction is complete. Please make a note of the confirmation number.
- Whom do I contact for questions?
If you have any questions about this Web site please contact a Transamerica Retirement Solutions Representative at 800-755-5801 or send us an e-mail by using Contact Us in Help.
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Our standard response for most inquiries is within 24 hours.
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Security
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
As security technology advances, My TRSRetire will continue to use updated technology to protect the integrity and security of information and transactions.
- What is 128-bit encryption or U.S. Security?
To encrypt means to encode using a public-key cryptography system developed by RSA. 128-bit encryption is the strongest form of data encryption commercially available. A higher number of bits mean more security.
- What are digital certificates?
Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
- What is Secure Socket Layer (SSL)?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
- What is https://?
While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
- Please explain the safety of My TRSRetire on the Internet in greater detail.
Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
- Why is it important to use the Sign Out button to exit your account?
Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
- How safe are Internet transmissions between my computer and My TRSRetire?
This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
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- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
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- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
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- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
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- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
- O back to top
- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
- U back to top
- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
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- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.
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Welcome Luke Starkiller | Last sign-in: April 11, 2016 | 7:58 PM CST
Invest in Managed Advice®
Managed Advice® can help you prepare for retirement with confidence.
From movie reviews to car-buying guides to selecting a smartphone, everyone is hungry for advice. Retirement planning is no different. We believe everyone deserves access to professional investment advice, so we created a personalized retirement readiness solution that's effective, affordable, and easy to use. We call it Managed Advice®.
Our team of retirement experts can help you create a personalized strategy by taking a holistic approach to retirement planning.
Your personalized strategy will include:
- Setting a “retirement income goal.” Think of your retirement income as your replacement salary. You might not be collecting a regular paycheck from work, so you'll be "paying yourself" with your savings. How much should your annual retirement income be? Our advisors will help you figure it out.
- Deciding how much to save to reach your goal. Once you know your retirement income goal, our advisors will help you calculate how much you should be saving on a regular basis to help you reach that goal.
- Evaluating how your assets and savings – inside and outside the plan – fit into the big picture. Our advisors will collaborate with you to discuss additional accounts or assets other than your ABC Company retirement plan. They'll use that information to build a customized investment strategy.
- Putting your plan into motion. Our advisors will discuss how you can turn your savings into retirement income when you are ready to stop working full-time. They'll help you see how Social Security fits into the plan, and how to ensure your savings will last you through retirement.
After helping you create a personalized plan, Managed Account® monitors your investments and provides the following:
- Rebalances your current investments and redirects new contributions to match your target mix
- Rebalances your portfolio quarterly to maintain your mix
- Adjusts your mix to become more conservative as you near retirement
- Provides Your Retirement Forecast, a real-time gauge of how you're doing as you pursue your goal
Your account will be charged a fee at an annual rate of 0.25% of your account balance (that's $2.08 per $10,000 when applied monthly) in Managed Advice®. Please refer to the Managed Advice® Service Agreement for more information, as well as these important details about the Managed Advice® service offered by ABC Organization.
There are fees associated with receiving advice through the Managed Advice® service offered by ABC Organization Retirement Advisors. You will have an opportunity to learn more about the service or make other investment choices on the following page. For more information, please see:
Financial Transactions & Account Inquiries
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If you would like to make an account transaction, please call to speak with a representative: 800-755-5801
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Access
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My TRSRetire has been optimized to work best in Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 8.0 or higher), as well as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. To check the current version of Internet Explorer, select HELP in your browser menu, then choose ABOUT INTERNET EXPLORER. You can download a free copy of the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome by clicking on the appropriate button below.
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Signing In
- I haven't established a Username/Password. How do I create one?
If you are a first time user select the GET STARTED button on the Sign In screen, it will take you to the Welcome Screen to create your Username and Password.
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Your personal information is very important to us. My TRSRetire offers the option of using either Username or Social Security Number for additional security.
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Select the change Username option in the Manage Profile section. You will be able to create a new Username or use your Social Security Number as your Username.
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Service
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My TRSRetire provides you with detailed fund information, transaction history, historical account balances and unit values. You also have access to online investment fund transfers and investment fund allocation changes as long as your plan doesn't have any special fund restrictions.
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Security
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Using advanced encryption technologies, My TRSRetire ensures that your account information is protected from unauthorized access or alteration. However, this does not apply to questions sent via e-mail (regular Internet e-mail is not secure and should not be used to send confidential information to My TRSRetire).
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Digital certificates are electronic means of authenticating a user. Transamerica uses digital certificates to complement other features of My TRSRetire security architecture.
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Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is another security convention used by My TRSRetire. SSL establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating each end of an encrypted transmission. This way, you know exactly with whom you are communicating before sending any sensitive information.
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While using My TRSRetire, note in the Web address bar of your browser, that the URL starts with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The 'S' stands for secure which means encrypted.
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Your Social Security Number/Username and My TRSRetire password are used to protect your account information from unauthorized access. A corporate firewall protects the My TRSRetire database from Internet hackers.
All communication with My TRSRetire is conducted as a "secure" activity. Transamerica Retirement Solutions, like other top financial service firms doing business on the Internet, has taken extra precaution to ensure confidentiality. Data about a participant account is encrypted in both directions as it travels over the Internet between your computer and My TRSRetire.
Any serious security problem concerning transfer of confidential information would most likely be an Internet-wide problem. The public would know immediately about such a problem from the business media. Transamerica Retirement Solutions would take prompt action to further protect the confidentiality of participant and plan data.
My TRSRetire uses browser-based security technology to encrypt the transmission of data and information between your PC and Transamerica's computer networks. By using browser based security systems, you can always verify the security status of your connection by the presence of a security icon on your browser.
Transamerica Retirement Solutions utilizes 128-bit encryption technology to establish a secure end-to-end connection. Currently, 128-bit encryption, which is also known as "U.S. domestic encryption," provides the highest level of Internet security commercially available.
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Using the Sign Out button to exit will ensure the confidentially of your account.
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This glossary of investment and retirement related terms provides simple definitions of terms that you may need to know.
- A
- (Future) Allocations
- To distribute a percentage of money to one or more funds.
- B
- Back End Load
- A sales charge or commission paid when an individual sells an investment, such as a mutual funds or an annuity. Intended to discourage withdrawals. Also called redemption fee or deferred sales charge.
- Bear Market
- A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. A bear market is the opposite of a bull market.
- Benefits Administration
- The implementation and coordination of an employee benefits plan.
- C back to top
- Capital Gain
- The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. Opposite of capital loss.
- Closing Price
- The price of the last transaction for a given security at the end of a given trading session.
- Confirmation
- A letter sent to an employee / participant confirming their transaction ( e.g. Loan, Transfers).
- Contribution Types
- The transfer of funds or property by either and employer or an employee to an employee retirement plan. Transamerica has identified eight contribution types relating to employee or employer contribution.
- Contributions (Saving Rate)
- A portion of an employee / participant's current salary that is invested in a retirement plan.
- D
- Defined Contribution Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, in which the employee elects to defer some amount of his/her salary into the plan.
- Defined Benefit Plan
- A company retirement plan, such as a pension plan, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk. Contributions may be made by the employee, the employer, or both.
- Diversification
- Diversification simply means not putting all your investment 'eggs in one basket.' The key to diversification is that each chosen investment exhibits a low correlation, or dissimilar volatility and price movement, in order to achieve the optimal risk / return tradeoff. The goal of diversification is to reduce overall portfolio risk given a desired level of return.
- E
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- A trust established by a corporation which acts as a tax-qualified, defined-contribution retirement plan by making the corporation's employees partial owners. Contributions are made by the sponsoring employer, and can grow tax-deferred, just as with an IRA or 401(k). The benefits for the company include increased cash flow, tax savings, and increased productivity from highly motivated workers. The main benefit for the employees is the ability to share in the company's success. Due to the tax benefits, the administration of ESOPs is regulated, and numerous restrictions apply. Also called stock purchase plan.
- F back to top
- Fiduciary
- An individual, corporation or association holding assets for another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party.
- Front-End Load
- A sales charge paid when an individual buys an investment, such as a mutual fund, limited partnership, annuity, or insurance policy. The load is clubbed with the first payment made by an investor, so the total initial payment is higher than the later payments. The purpose of a load is to cover administrative expenses and transaction costs and sometimes to discourage asset turnover. Opposite of back-end load.
- G
- General Obligation Bond
- A municipal bond secured by the taxing and borrowing power of the municipality issuing it.
- GIC
- Guaranteed Investment Contract. A debt instrument issued by an insurance company, usually in a large denomination, and often bought for retirement plans. The interest rate paid is guaranteed, but the principal is not. Also called guaranteed interest contract.
- H
- High-Grade Bond
- A bond with a rating of AAA or AA, the two highest ratings.
- Hedge Fund
- A fund, usually used by wealthy individuals and institutions, which is allowed to use aggressive strategies that are unavailable to mutual funds, including selling short, leverage, program trading, swaps, arbitrage, and derivatives. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, which allows them to accomplish aggressive investing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000 to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).
- I back to top
- IRA
- Individual Retirement Account- A retirement savings program for indiviuals to which yearly tax deductible contributions up to a specified limit can be made. The amounts contributed are not taxed until withdrawal. Withdrawal is not permitted, without penalty, until the individual reaches age 59 ½.
- Investment Mix
- The combination of all the funds in your investment portfolio.
- J
- January Effect
- Tendency of the stock market to rise between December 31 and the end of the first week in January. The January Effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. Although the January Effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
- Joint Life Annuity
- An annuity issued on two individuals under which payments continue in whole or in part until both individuals die. Also called joint and survivor annuity.
- Junk Bond
- A high-risk, non-investment-grade bond with a low credit rating, usually BB or lower; as a consequence, it usually has a high yield . Opposite of investment-grade bond.
- K
- Kappa
- A value representing the expected change in the price of an option in response to a 1% change in the volatility of the underlying stock.
- Keogh Plan
- A tax-deferred qualified retirement plan for self-empoyed individuals and unincorporated businesses. Also called self-employed pension.
- Key Person Insurance
- Life insurance purchased by a company or investor on the life of a key executive. Usually the company is the policy's beneficiary. Also called business life insurance.
- Krugerrand
- Gold coin minted by the Republic of South Africa.
- L back to top
- Loan Note
- A form of vendor finance or deferred payment, in which the purchaser acts as a borrower, agreeing to make payments to the holder of the transferable loan note at a specified future date.
- Loan Schedule
- A listing of the amounts of principal and interest, due dates, and balance after payment for a given loan.
- M
- Matching Funds
- A type of employer contribution to an employee retirement fund in which employee contributions up to a maximum limit are accompanied by identical, or at least proportional, contributions by the employer.
- Money Market Fund
- A mutual fund that seeks maximum current income through Investment in securities may include bank CD, bankers acceptances, T-bills, repurchase agreements (repos), and commercial paper.
- Mutual Funds
- Type of investment vehicle in which many investors / employee money is pooled for specific investment purposes. Participants own shares in an investment portfolio, rather than individual securities.
- N
- Nasdaq Composite Index
- A market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq Composite dates back to 1971, which is when the Nasdaq exchange was first formalized. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Nasdaq is market value-weighted, so it takes into account the total market capitalization of the companies it tracks and not just their share prices.
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The oldest and largest stock exchange in the U.S., located on Wall Street in New York City. The NYSE is responsible for setting policy, supervising member activities, listing securities, overseeing the transfer of member seats, and evaluating applicants. It traces its origins back to 1792, when a group of brokers met under a tree at the tip of Manhattan and signed an agreement to trade securities. Unlike some of the newer exchanges , the NYSE still uses a large trading floor in order to conduct its transactions. It is here that the representatives of buyers and sellers, professionals known as brokers, meet and shout out prices at one another in order to strike a deal. This is called the open outcry system and it usually produces fair market pricing. In order to facilitate the exchange of stocks, the NYSE employs individuals called specialists who are assigned to manage the buying and selling of specific stocks and to buy those stocks when no one else will. Of the exchanges, the NYSE has the most stringent set of requirements in place for the companies whose stocks it lists, and even meeting these requirements is not a guarantee that the NYSE will list the company. The NYSE is also called Big Board.
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- Obligation Bond
- Mortgage bond whose face value exceeds the value of the underlying property, and for which a personal obligation is created to compensate the lender for any costs that may exceed the value of the mortgage.
- Offering
- The making available of a new securities to the public through an underwriting. Also called public offering.
- Online Trading
- The increasingly popular activity of buying and selling securities over the Internet, or to a lesser extent, through a broker's proprietary software.
- Option
- The right, but not the obligation, to buy (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) a specific amount of a given stock, commodity, currency,index, or debt, at a specified price (the strike price) during a specified period of time. For stock options, the amount is usually 100 shares. Each option has a buyer, called the holder, and a seller, known as the writer. If the option contract is exercised, the writer is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the contract by delivering the shares to the appropriate party. In the case of a security that cannot be delivered such as an index, the contract is settled in cash. For the holder, the potential loss is limited to the price paid to acquire the option. When an option is not exercised, it expires. No shares change hands and the money spent to purchase the option is lost. For the buyer, the upside is unlimited. Options, like stocks, are therefore said to have an asymmetrical payoff pattern. For the writer, the potential loss is unlimited unless the contract is covered, meaning that the writer already owns the security underlying the option. Options are most frequently as either leverage or protection. As leverage, options allow the holder to control equity in a limited capacity for a fraction of what the shares would cost. The difference can be invested elsewhere until the option is exercised. As protection, options can guard against price fluctuations in the near term because they provide the right acquire the underlying stock at a fixed price for a limited time. risk is limited to the option premium (except when writing options for a security that is not already owned). However, the costs of trading options (including both commissions and the bid/ask spread) is higher on a percentage basis than trading the underlying stock. In addition, options are very complex and require a great deal of observation and maintenance. Aso called option contract.
- P
- PCRA
- (Personal choice retirement account) is an investment option that allows participants to invest directly into a individual stocks or bonds, or a mutual fund not offered in their retirement plan.
- Pending Transfer
- A pending transfer is a transfer that has not been processed. This transfer will be valued using today's market closing unit values provided the transaction is completed prior to 4:00 PM ET. Transfer requests completed after 4:00 PM ET will be valued using the market closing unit values for the following business day.
- Q
- Qualified Retirement Plan
- A plan that meets the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and is thus eligible for favorable tax treatment. These plans offer several tax benefits: they allow employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until withdrawn for each participant; and some of the taxes can be deferred even further through a transfer into an IRA.
- Quarterly Report
- Unaudited document required by the SEC for all U.S. public companies, reporting the financial results for the quarter and noting any significant changes or events in the quarter. Quarterly reports contain financial statements, a discussion from the management, and a list of “material events” that have occurred with the company (such as a stock split or acquisition). Also called Form 10-Q.
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- Rate of Return
- The rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percent of the total amount invested.
- Rebalance (Investment Mix)
- The process of changing your current investment mix to a new Investment Mix.
- Rollover
- A tax-free reinvestment of a distribution from a qualified retirement plan into a IRA or other qualified plan within a specific time frame, usually 60 days.
- S
- Savings Bond
- A registered, non-callable, non-transferable bond issued by the U.S. Government, and backed by its full faith and credit. Savings bonds differ from other treasury securities in several ways. Savings bonds are non-marketable, meaning that they cannot be bought and sold after they are purchased from the government; therefore, there is no secondary market for savings bonds. The tax benefits associated with savings bonds are significant. Like all treasury securities, they are exempt from state and local taxes, but in the specific case of savings bonds, all federal taxes may be deferred until the bond is redeemed. Therefore, even though interest will accrue, no taxes will be due until that money can be accessed. Additionally, if the money received at redemption is used to pay tuition expenses for the holder, a spouse or a dependent in the same year, the interest earned may be exempt from federal taxes as well. Face values range from $50 to $10,000. Also called U.S. Savings bond.
- Sector Fund
- A mutual fund which invests entirely or predominantly in a single sector of the stock market. A sector funds tend to be riskier and more volatile than the broad market because they are less diversified, although the risk level depends on the specific sector. Some investors choose sector funds when they believe that a specific sector will outperform the overall market, while others choose sector funds to hedge against other holdings in a portfolio. Some common sector funds include financial services funds, gold and precious metals funds, health care funds, and real estate funds, but sector funds exist for just about every sector.
- Strategic Allocation Fund (Multi asset class)
- A “fund of funds” that invests in an array of mutual funds to obtain a stated investment objective. Also known as “lifestyle funds”.
- T
- Tender Offer
- A take over bid in the form of a public invitation to shareholders to sell their stock, generally at a price above the market price.
- Time Horizon
- The length of time a sum of money is expected to be invested. Also called investment horizon or horizon.
- Transfer
- A function that moves account balances between various funds.
- Transreferance Number
- A number assigned to each transaction, consisting of a current date and a sequential number within that date.
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- Undervalued
- Something whose price is below its perceived value.
- Unit Value (NAV)
- The value of a mutual fund share determined by deducting the fund's liabilities from the total asset of the portfolio and dividing this amount by the number of shares outstanding. This is calculated once a day, based on the closing market price for each security in the fund portfolio.
- Unrealized Loss
- Loss which has occurred but has not yet been realized through a transaction, such as a stock which has fallen in value but is still being held. also called paper loss.
- U.S. Treasury Securities
- Negotiable U.S. Government debt obligations, backed by its full faith and credit. Exempt from state and local taxes. U.S. Treasury Securities are issued by the U.S. government in order to pay for government projects. The money paid out for a Treasury bond is essentially a loan to the government. As with any loan, repayment of principal is accompanied by a specified interest rate. These bonds are guaranteed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government, meaning that they are extremely low risk (since the government can simply print money to pay back the loan). Additionally, interest earned on U.S. Treasury Securities is exempt from state and local taxes. Federal taxes, however, are still due on the earned interest. The government sells U.S. Treasury Securities by auction in the primary market, but they are marketable securities and therefore can be purchased through a broker in the very active secondary market. A broker will charge a fee for such a transaction, but the government charges no fee to participate in auctions. Prices on the secondary market and at auction are determined by interest rates. U.S. Treasury Securities issued today are not callable, so they will continue to accrue interest until the maturity date. One possible downside to U.S. Treasury Securities is that if interest rates increase during the term of the bond, the money invested will be earning less interest than it could earn elsewhere. Accordingly, the resale value of the bond will decrease as well. Because there is almost no risk of default by the government, the return on Treasury bonds is relatively low, and a high inflation rate can erase most of the gains by reducing the value of the principal and interest payments. There are three types of securities issued by the U.S. Treasury (bonds, bills,and notes), which are distinguished by the amount of time from the initial sale of the bond to maturity. Also called Treasuries.
- V
- Value Fund
- A mutual fund that invests in companies which it determines to be underpriced by fundamental measures. Assuming that a company's share price will not remain undervalue indefinitely, the fund looks to make money by buying before the expected upturn. Value funds tend to focus on safety rather than growth, and often choose investments providing dividends as well as capital appreciation. They invest in companies that have low P/E ratio, and stocks that have fallen out of favor with mainstream investors, either due to changing investor preferences, a poor quarterly earnings report, or hard times in a particular industry. Value stocks are often mature companies that have stopped growing and that use their earnigs to pay dividends. Thus value funds produce current income (from the dividends) as well as long-term growth (from capital appreciation once the stocks become popular again).
- Vesting
- Represents the percent of ownership of employer contribution to a participant / employee account in a retirement saving plan. This is based on various eligibility factors.
- W
- Weak Dollar
- Dollar that can be exchanged for only a small or decreasing amount of foreign currency. A weak dollar means that the U.S. dollar cannot buy very much of another currency. The strength of the dollar has an impact on imports and exports because goods and services from a foreign nation are usually purchased in the currency of the producing nation. A weak dollar usually leads to high exports and low imports. Opposite of strong dollar.
- Windfall
- Money received which was not expected and not a direct result of something the recipient did.
- World Bank
- An organization whose focus is on foreign exchange reserves and the balance of trade.
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- X or XD
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading ex-dividend, or that a bond is trading without interest, or that a mutual fund recently paid a capital gain or dividend.
- XR
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is trading without rights attached. Those rights remain with the seller.
- XW
- A symbol used by newspapers to signify that a stock is ex-warrants.
- Y
- Yield to Maturity
- Yield that would be realized on a bond or other fixed income security if the bond was held until the maturity date. It is greater than the current yield if the bond is selling at a discount and less than the current yield if the bond is selling at a premium.
- Yankee Bond Market
- Market for dollar-denominated bonds issued in the U.S. by foreign corporations, banks and governments.
- Z
- Zero-Coupon Bond
- A bond which pays no coupons , is sold at a deep discount to its face value, and matures at its face value. A zero-coupon bond has the important advantage of being free of reinvestment risk, though the downside is that there is no opportunity to enjoy the effects of a rise in market interest rates. Also, such bonds tend to be very sensitive to changes in interest rates, since there are no coupon payments to reduce the impact of interest rate changes. In addition, markets for zero-coupon bonds are relatively illiquid. Under U.S. tax law, the imputed interest on a zero-coupon bond is taxable as it accrues, even though there is no cash flow.
- Zero-Coupon Convertible
- A zero-coupon issued by a corporation which can be converted into that corporation's common stock at a certain price, or a zero-coupon bond issued by a municipality which can be converted into an interest-bearing bond under certain circumstances. Also called split coupon bond.
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- 401(k) Plan
- A defined contribution plan, established by an employer. It enables employees to make pretax contributions by salary reduction agreements structured within the format of a cash or deferred plan.
- 403(b) Plan
- A defined contribution plan established by certain tax exempt organizations and public schools for their employees.
- 457 Plan
- A tax-exempt deferred compensation program made available to employees of state and federal governments and agencies. A 457 plan is similar to a 401(k) plan, except there are never employer matching contributions and the IRS does not consider it a qualified retirement plan. Participants can defer some of their annual income (up to an annual limit), and contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal. Distributions start at retirement age but participants can also take distributions if they change jobs or in certain emergencies. Participants can choose to take distributions as a lump sum, annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and the amounts cannot be transferred into an IRA.